...a photoBook is an autonomous art form, comparable with a piece of sculpture, a play or a film. The photographs lose their own photographic character as things 'in themselves' and become parts, translated into printing ink, of a dramatic event called a book...
- Dutch photography critic Ralph Prins

zondag 28 december 2008

While there were many great books published this year, finding the one that I enjoyed the most was surprisingly easy this year. Despite the high quality of many books I saw in 2008, Hiroh Kikai's Asakusa Portraits has had me coming back to it, ever since I managed to get my own copy (just as an aside, this will hopefully also silence those who claim that I don't like b/w photography). Asakusa Portraits easily fulfills all criteria of a great book: Fantastic photography, a great interview with the photographers, and an extremely wonderful text written by the photographer.

In addition to Asakusa Portraits my "best of 2008" list also contains the following books, which I'm going to list in alphabetical order (using the photographer's last name):

Olaf Otto Becker's Broken Line is a book of vast, immensely beautiful landscapes taken in Greenland, a land about to change drastically as the planet is heating up.

Jonas Bendiksen's The Places We Live shows the "apartments" of inhabitants of slums - a single room, with the fold-out pages showing each wall. The photos come along with the voices of the people living in those places (in the form of text).

Mathieu Bernard-Reymond's TV transcends "pure" photography through its use of additional digital processing. While this is sure to have purists scoff, it shows very well how digital technologies can be used creatively in contemporary photography.

Peter Bialobrzeski's Lost In Transition, shot in Peter's signature style - another commentary on how things are starting to look the same, regardless of where you are on this planet.

Joakim Eskildsen and Cia Rinne's The Roma Journeys is a vast and almost overwhelming portrayal of the life of the Roma in different countries. It even includes a CD with "field recordings" of music.

Chen Jiagang's Third Front shows the changing China, using the eyes of a Chinese photographer. A very welcome addition to the often somewhat superficial Westerners' gaze.

Mikhael Subotzky's Beaufort West portrays life in a small town in South Africa. The photography is stunning, in more than just one way. Both Mikhael's and Jonas' work show what contemporary photojournalism can achieve (if it's not frozen in conventions).

maandag 22 december 2008

The Island A digital-historical adventure about the relationship between New York and Amsterdam.Organized by the John Adams Institute & the Waag Society.The year 2009 will mark the 400th anniversary of the voyage of Henry Hudson to the New World and the charting of the river that bears his name. As Hudson traveled on behalf of the Dutch, this will be the occasion of a year-long celebration of the beginning of Dutch-American relations, with dozens of events taking place on both sides of the Atlantic. The anniversary is the inspiration behind The Island, a new digital frontier through which high school students will experience history. See for more ...

The Island A digital-historical adventure about the relationship between New York and Amsterdam.Organized by the John Adams Institute & the Waag Society.The year 2009 will mark the 400th anniversary of the voyage of Henry Hudson to the New World and the charting of the river that bears his name. As Hudson traveled on behalf of the Dutch, this will be the occasion of a year-long celebration of the beginning of Dutch-American relations, with dozens of events taking place on both sides of the Atlantic. The anniversary is the inspiration behind The Island, a new digital frontier through which high school students will experience history. See for more ...

woensdag 17 december 2008

Street photographers strive to capture the life and culture of city streets, searching for what Henri Cartier-Bresson, probably the most famous street photographer of all, termed the ‘Decisive Moment’.

When it comes to street photography, many photographers traditionally choose to work in black and white, focusing the viewer’s attention on the subject by eliminating the distraction of colour. Wide angle lenses are used by photographers who like to get in close to the action, a method that encourages interaction between the photographer and subject. Another technique is use a lens with a long focal length to take photos from a distance and throw the background out of focus.

Smashing Magazine celebrates the diversity and livelinesss of the world’s streets by presenting you 50 excellent examples of street photography, urban photography and photojournalism.